Canada is the #1 sued country in NAFTA and the majority of the lawsuits are rela...

chiaro · on Jan 22, 2017

I'm familiar with the Ethyl Corp case, which is an interesting case to dive into.

Canada banned a fuel additive that was only used by one company (foreign) called Ethyl Corp on the basis of health reasons. Ethyl Corp sued, saying the additive was actually banned for political reasons rather than on any scientific grounds, and the Canadian government chose to settle - paying them some $20 million dollars and withdrawing the law they were implementing.

On the face of it, it seems like Ethyl Corp was the bad guy and the Canadian government was pursuing legitimate policy in the public interest, and this is certainly how it was played out in the media. In actual fact, Ethyl Corp presented the Canadian governments own documents coming from the Health and Environmental departments, dating to about a year prior that unequivocally stated that there was absolutely zero danger from using the additive in fuel. In fact, the party that tried to get the law through had had strong historical links with the domestic companies competing with Ethyl Corp.

In all the papers, it was portrayed as 'Company sues government over environmental protections/health protections', and that's how all ISDS cases get presented in mainstream newspapers. 'Company screwing with our laws' sells way more papers than 'company disputes unfair government policies', I guess. I don't know about you, but I don't think it's fair that foreign investors should be unfairly discriminated against in this way. ISDS prevents political parties from favouring their contributors over foreigners by enacting biased laws such as these. Why should Joe Public lose out because one of the parties is trying to cozy up to their largest donors, and why is it fair that international investors get screwed just because they're foreigners? In actual fact, ISDS is a great way of keeping governments accountable by limiting the political favours they can hand out whilst in office.

Regulations aren't grounds for an ISDS suit, unless they're implemented discriminatorily.

[0] http://www.economia-snci.gob.mx/sic_php/pages/importa/sol_co... (p.4 onwards)

edblarney · on Jan 22, 2017

"Regulations aren't grounds for an ISDS suit, unless they're implemented discriminatorily."

If a company believes they can sue, and convince a judge ... well, they'll sue.

I get that it's nuanced, but it's a problem, is my point.

chiaro · on Jan 23, 2017

I mean explicitly, you only have a valid claim under most implementations of ISDS if you have been treated differently than a domestic company.

And its their right to have their case heard if that's the case, no?